The Unknown Animalbender
by TITANcheetah001
Summary: I'm Darian. You may not know me... But read my story; I meet the Avatar, I have an adventure, oh yeah, and that Prince Zuko will NEVER forget me... I never thought I could find love in such a... Well, EVIL person. PS- He also happens to love me too.
1. Meet the Animalbender

Avatar: the Last Airbender

Book I: Water ~ Lost Chapter 21: The Unknown Animalbender

"Have you ever gotten that feeling when someone yells at you, you just want to rip their head off, kill yourself, or just run away from all the people, events, and everything that keeps you in an awkward, overprotected position?

"You know nothing compared to me.

"I was born knowing my destiny; I hated it. I hated everything that I was destined to do. I was highly expected to fulfill _every single thing that my ancestors did_.

"That's why I'm here now, telling you this story.

"The day I was born, October 24th, I was given a medallion and a lemur. The medallion is made of pure silver and bronze and is engraved with a cougar on one side and a lemur on the other. My lemur's name is Saala. She is the same breed of lemur as Momo.

"So what _is_ my destiny, you ask? I am supposed to marry someone I don't know and have children with him and pass down my royal blood to future generations. I used to be a princess in my kingdom. The thing is, I HATE that custom! I HATED being a royal, overprotected princess! And it wasn't someone I didn't know; it was someone I HATED from my early childhood!"

I calmed down and sighed, "I am a princess in my hometown, Chaatala. It is probably a place you never heard of or ever been to." Appa mooed in agree.

"I know, boy; you haven't been there. Anyway, I was expected to marry him. But… I…" I smiled faintly; well _that_ was abrupt. There was a long pause after Katara gasped and Aang and Sokka sat stunned, but I carried on, "I murdered him because he didn't want _me_, he just wanted to be king of_ everything and everyone_. He was a poor slob when we were six, and he stayed the same up until he died. Two words: _good riddance_.

"After I killed him, I washed off his dirty blood and ran. I ran far. The only thing I took with me was Saala." As I said that, Saala popped out of my messenger bag and acted way too cute. "I taught her how to write and communicate with humans and other animals; she's a prodigy." Momo instantly turned around and saw Saala, with her emerald-studded gold collar shining in the light and her pink-pointed tail wrapping around her pink-pointed paws (imagine Momo with that, soft pink wings, and sky-blue eyes; I like to tell apart _my_ Saala from other lemurs. PS- Momo has green eyes), and he suddenly had hearts fluting around his head (metaphorically). Saala's a real pretty lemur.

"I guess I went far enough to actually run into the Avatar! I never thought I'd meet you."

Here's the full story: I'm in the forest, I see a monkey out in front of me. I'm hiding behind a bush waiting for it to get close enough to me so I could catch it. Then, as I'm going to sprint, Aang comes and Airbends in my face, knocking me backwards and letting _my food_ run away. I almost let him have a piece of my mind, but I think _those arrows look familiar, that's the Avatar!_

I tell him sternly that was my next meal, and he invites me with Katara, Sokka, Momo, and Appa to fly together. I love flying, so I went.

So far, Katara's nice and kind, Aang is funny, Sokka's sarcastic in a funny way, and Appa and Momo are cute (they're animals, most animals are cute).

"Yeah, I get that a lot," replied Aang. We were flying over a forest. This is after Aang defeated the whole freaking Fire Nation fleet at the North Pole, but before he starts looking for an Earthbending teacher.

Sokka's stomach growled. "Why'd you kill the guy? He mustn't have been _that_ bad,"

I scratched Sokka's face. That pissed him off, "What the heck was that for?"

I was more pissed than him; I morphed my hands into tiger claws and grabbed his shirt, "If you met the guy and you were me, you would have hated his guts, _too_! He was the most self-centered, prideful, know-it-all _Neanderthal_ to ever walk the face of this poor, forsaken world!" I admit I was kind of mean.

Sokka looked scared, "Sorry!" I let him go, "Didn't mean to upset you!" He hid behind Katara, still freaking out. "But it doesn't give you a right to harm people."

I ignored that comment. "Dude, did you wet your pants or somethin'?" I laughed a little, "I haven't seen that since I accidentally clawed my sister's finger!" I didn't morph my hands into human form until I finished that sentence. "By the way, my name is Darian, nice to meet you." I held my hand for someone to shake.

Katara must have seen my paws, "Who… What… Are you?" She sounded frightened.

I shrugged and put down my hand, "You may call me a shapeshifter, or a changeling, or even an animal transformer, but I refer to myself as an _Animalbender_. I can turn into anything; from a turtle-duck to a saber-tooth moose-lion!" I laid down and faced the sky; the clouds were beautiful in a cloudy way.

"Wow," awed Sokka, "It's amazing; I never knew anyone like you existed,"

"It's passed down generation to generation; to my people, it's common in royalty." Sokka whistled in awe and stopped hiding behind his sister.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how wealthy were you?" Katara asked me.

I looked up, my face showed no expression but looked serious ant the same time. "I would have inherited _billions_." Tears welled in my eyes.

"What did you do to the guy you were gonna marry?" Aang couldn't help it; he had to ask. He was driving.

"Like this," I yanked Aang from the seat and shoved him on the ground. I got on top of him. I _PRETENDED_ to bite his neck, "That a good example?"

Aang nodded.

I can be kind of scary when I want to be.

"Uhh, who's driving!" exclaimed Sokka. We all looked over to see Saala holding the reins like an expert bison driver. Momo was watching her with love.

"That's my girl!" I said.

_**

* * *

**_

It was late at night, we set up camp. I crashed between bushels of some kind of (non-poisonous) fruit.

"Are you sure you don't wanna sleeping bag?" asked Katara.

I'm used to sleeping on the dirt. "No, I'm fine." But then, I jolted out of bed.

I scented something. My eyes grew wide. My pupils pinpointed.

I only managed to murmur, "Fire Nation,"


	2. You Tanks Are Goin' DOWN!

OK, so you would think that since I'm an Animalbender, I have the answer to how to get rid of, like, four Fire Nation tanks.

Congratulations, you win; yes.

"I know a way to get them off our tail: I need Sokka's boomerang, Aang, Momo, Saala, and a _really long_ length of vine," I said to them.

"Check, check, check, check, and will 100 feet work?" asked Katara.

"Perfect."

"_Why my boomerang!_" Sokka wailed.

"C'mon, don't throw a hissy fit," I crossed my arms at him, "I'll give it back. By the way, if a tank goes free, I'll get it myself; I don't need anybody's _help_."

"Fine," he gave me his boomerang and pouted in a corner of a rock. If he was chibi or anime, he would have a rain cloud forming over his head. Oh, and from now on, if I say something like that (she flailed her arms like a chibi/ an anime vein flared from his head/ etc.), just imagine it in chibi and/or anime form. Get it.

_**

* * *

**_

The vine rope wrapped around the parallel trees in a straight line perfectly at three feet off the ground. I had Sokka's boomerang in my right hand and the lemurs on my left shoulder. Aang was where I placed him: right smack in front of where the tanks would pummel.

"You ready?" I whisper-called to him.

"Yeah; I'm ready!" he replied. This was going to be fun.

As I expected, the tankers saw the Avatar and tried to run over him, but the thick vine stopped them in their tracks.

It works like this: the tanks destroy big things like buildings, towers, etc. but _it doesn't work on tough, suspended vines_. Try to run over a vine at the right distance in the air, sorry, but your transportation is delayed. Ha, evil laugh!

The tanks couldn't move and they couldn't get Aang. They were trying like _maniacs_.

"Saala," she looked at me, "Tell Momo that you two are going to distract the tankers right now." She spoke lemur to him and they were off, fast.

"Stay there, Aang!" I called. He nodded back.

Saala and Momo flew above the over head tank doors, urging the tankers to emerge and try to attack them. I just threw Sokka's boomerang at the right time, and _**BASH**_, the tanker is down. It's like Whack-a-Badger mole.

Since there were three tanks, I took them out. Damn! Did I say _three_?

Well, if you must know, one got away.

Since I knocked out the tankers of the three I saw, I morphed into a Fire Navy messenger hawk and patrolled the skies for the missing tank.

I saw it with my raptor vision. It was retreating away from here. I flew down to it. When I was 20 feet of the ground (not too high for me), I changed into tiger-dragon (tiger's body, Chinese dragon's limbs) and started destroying the thing with my five-inch claws. In case you didn't know, I can talk when I'm an animal; my larynx and vocal cords are enhanced.

I bit the overhead door off. I flung it over my right shoulder behind me.

I saw two royal guys in front of me; one with a scar and the other was fat.

I took the scarred one first.

He had a noticeable mark on his left eye going past his singed ear.

"Prince Zuko!" the fat guy called as I pulled Zuko out of the hole.

"Uncle!" he called back. He tried to Firebend in my face, but I flung him on the ground, throwing off his strategy. He went _**thud**_ on the forest floor and screamed in agony. I think he broke something; wrist?

The fat guy (I finally realized that was General Iroh at that moment because he) blew fire out of his mouth, aiming towards _MOI_. He reminded me of a freaking dragon!

_The Dragon of the West?_ I thought. I morphed back into my human body. I stood on the destroyed tank in triumph over the scarred boy; he was actually about 16.

"Get your Firebending ass outta here before I amputate your arm for you!" I yelled at the top of my voice, "I never wanna see you messing with the Avatar ever again!"

Prince Zuko looked at me with complete shock, "A _girl_? A GIRL _DEFEATED_ _ME_! THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE!"

I slammed my hands on my hips and looked at him suspiciously, "Don't be so sexist, idiot! Girls have been better than men in pretty much _everything_.

"Oh yeah, and I destroyed your tank; how you gonna get home?" I asked sarcastically.

Zuko got up from the ground with Iroh's help (painfully), and shot me with fire from his left arm, the one I didn't hurt him. I was launched back about 20 feet into a tree, landing on my shoulder blades.

"Go to Hell!" I came at him as a tiger-dillo (tiger with armor plates and rolls like an armadillo) roaring and bit his entire shoulder blade; the right one.

Zuko screamed in pain again. He wanted to Firebend at me, but I had him pinned; there was no way he could. Iroh was the one who shot me with a small burst of flame. I was blown back a little, but still, I got up on my feet undamaged.

I wanted to murder him on the spot like I did with my fiancé, but… I looked at both sides of his face and-

Zuko was kind of HOT!

I morphed into a cheetah (a totally regular, non-hybrid, normal animal in your world) and just sat down. I just plain sat down. I didn't do anything else; nothing.

I just looked at him disapprovingly and sat there, waiting for him to assault me.

Iroh looked at me like he understood me. _Can he read minds or something?_

Zuko looked at me like he was going to kill me.

Did he? Of course not.

"Zuko," I ordered solemnly, "get out of here now; before I hurt you."

"Prince Zuko," added his uncle, "Do not let the girl get to you. Just get up and walk away from an unnecessary conflict." Iroh smiled at me in thanks, like I wanted to hurt him but chose not to.

_Then he winked at me_.

I looked at him with surprise and blushed (PS- I'm still a cheetah). I swished my tail and, with my head still facing them, I moved my neck down. That's submissive animal posture.

I swerved my head towards the right, looking away from them.

They wandered slowly away, chatting about me. They were mumbled, but I could make out a little of what they said when I swiveled my head towards them:

Iroh- "…a shapeshifter! She's a _shapeshifter_!..."

Zuko- "…are not existent! Impossible! You…"

Iroh- "Do not hate someone you…"

They were a little far from me; too far for me to get an earshot of. I was completely deaf from them.

Until I heard Prince Zuko shout, "I WILL NOT! I WILL NEVER LOVE HER!

"What the Hell?" I thought aloud. They both looked at me. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to _eavesdrop_!" I commented sarcastically, "Hey, you never know if you'll break that promise." I winked at him, turned and carried my four paws back towards the Avatar's team.

But I managed to catch the last thing Zuko said: "Why did you even mention that?" he said very pouting. Funny.


	3. I Want the Girl

"Why did you even mention that?" I screamed at my uncle. Well, I was still enraged by having a _girl_ kick my ass, having a dislocated shoulder, and having to listen to Uncle's stupid proverbs.

Darian already left. The Animalbender was nowhere in sight when we turned back around to walk home. We were strolling.

"Honestly, Uncle, this has _got_ to be a dream! There is no such thing as a shapeshifter!" I yelled.

"Prince Zuko," he said to me, "that was miraculous that she didn't kill you when she had the chance! And she had plenty of opportunities!" replied Uncle.

I vigorously shook my head back and forth, muttering like an insomniac, "No, she couldn't kill me… Even if she tried, I would burn her until she looks worse than me…"

"Are you sure you just can't handle the fact that you were beaten by a girl?" Iroh winked.

My face turned bitter, "No! I wasn't defeated!" I said vainly, "I refuse to say it!" I was so crazy, I whacked into a tree with my bad arm; it felt like all the nerves in that one shoulder blade just exploded and wanted to break off, "Ugggggggaaaaaaaaahhhh!" I screeched in pain and agony. I really hurt!

You probably don't care, though. To you, the Avatar, and everybody else, I'm the bad guy. I'm the one who wants to capture the Avatar and disrupt the balance of life and condemn it to chaos.

I've changed.

Why do you think Darian let me intervene with her story? She _did_ let me!

"Prince Zuko," said Uncle Iroh, "You have to be more observant of your surroundings; if you don't, you might dislocate your _other_ shoulder!"

At the time, I was still on the ground, face plant, Uncle was helping him turn over, "Uncle, please fix my arm," I said desperately.

He nodded and lifted my arm in the exact spot _right where it hurt_! I screamed in agony. Uncle twisted my arm in an awkward way and then… My shoulder, it felt better!

Uncle relocated it into the socket. I got up from the ground and stretched both my arms, "Thank you, Uncle."

"I always was good at first aid," he replied.

_I'll take that as a thank-you_, I thought.

"That girl… She must have been with the Avatar," I said aloud to myself.

"Prince Zuko, you promised me you wouldn't go after the Avatar anymore," said Uncle.

"I saw the Avatar… Then that girl attacked us…" I muttered to myself.

"_Prince Zuko_!" yelled Uncle, looking at me like I was crazy.

"I must have-" I started.

"_I forbid you to capture the Avatar anymore!_"

"I DON'T WANT THE AVATAR! I WANT THE GIRL!" I yelled at him.

"Excuse me?"

"I want the girl."


	4. The Blue Spirit Stole My Stuff!

I walked into the makeshift camp that Sokka made. I asked, "Does any one of you know anything about Prince Zuko? He tried to kill me, but is uncle, General Iroh stopped him."

They all stared at me like I was a total idiot.

"Zuko was the one who tried to capture me before I destroyed that fleet of Fire Navy ships," answered Aang, "He wants to bring me to his father, Firelord Ozai, to regain his honor. It's kinda sad, actually."

"I wanna swing at him with my machete!" added Sokka.

"Huh," I replied sarcastically, "Well he seems _nice_."

"Yeah!" added Katara, "That son-of-a-bitch blackmailed me to give him Aang just so he could give me my mother's necklace back!" She removed her necklace and showed it to me; it was beautiful, the details in the stone were amazing. But it looked familiar.

"Katara, is this a betrothal necklace?" I asked.

"Yes, actually; Master Pakku, the master Waterbender from the Northern Water Tribe, made this by hand for my GranGran," Katara replied, "She was originally from the Northern tribe; she came to the Southern Water Tribe because she hated all the rules and laws she had to abide by."

I looked at Katara with wide eyes. I sat down and crossed my legs, "So, she ran away?" I asked slowly looking at my hands.

"Pretty much," answered Sokka, sharpening his machete with a random stone he found on the ground.

I looked up at Katara; my eyes were still wide "You just told the story… Of me!" I realized and exclaimed. "I hated all the rules my kingdom had and _I_ ran away!"

"Déjà vu much?" commented Aang.

"HELL YEAH, DÉJÀ VU!" I yelled, brushing my long brown hair; I _ALWAYS_ wear it down. It's shorter than Katara's but she almost always wears hers in a braid; with hair-loopies.

I brushed off my dark maroon robes with my hands. They're pure satin and looks like I'm part of the Fire Nation. It's basically like a baggy tank top that tightens on my waist and gives way to a maroon-ish purple colored skirt that stops halfway down my calf. It's the only thing I wear now and it's surprisingly lightweight when I fight. Only if I kick and jab and didn't turn into an animal or something.

If you looked at it, it would be pretty sexy.

They all looked at me like I was an idiot, _again_.

I started cracking up, my dark cinnamon eyes sparkled in the firelight, "Believe me, I am such a _dork_ sometimes!"

Saala and Momo tilted their heads in opposite directions, looking at me (still laughing).

"Hey, _I_ don't tilt my head at _you guys_ when _you're_ laughing," I said to them. Momo tilted his head to the other side and Saala looked pissed and crossed her arms defiantly.

"Speaking of necklaces, what's that around your neck?" asked Sokka, still sharpening his machete on a different random stone.

"It's not a necklace, it's a _medallion_; big difference!" I said, taking it off. "It's made of pure bronze, stamped into with a strong pattern of a cougar on one side and a feral cat on the other.

"The rope of the medallion is made from sterling silver, hammered into small rings, and was painstakingly welded together by hand one by one. In other words: it's very expensive."

Sokka tried to touch it, but I growled at him, _loudly_, "This is MINE," I frowned at him disapprovingly, "If anything happens to _my medallion_, you're not gonna see another day on Earth ever again."

Sokka pulled his hand away fast.

"So, Darian," Sokka asked me as I slipped on my medallion, "err… What is your kingdom's main element? Water? Earth?"

"Fire," I answered; they gasped, "But it's not what you think; Chaatala has always known about the war, but we were always neutral. No one person would help either side of the armies. Besides, almost no other kingdoms have ever heard of Chaatala."

I continued, "But we started to get lots of refugees who could Earthbend, Waterbend, and more who could Firebend, so we took them in and now it's pretty mixed."

"Like a Mini-Ba Sing Se!" realized Katara out loud, "Sorry,"

"It's OK," I said, "But there aren't any _gigantic_ walls to protect us; they're just smaller walls. We are protected by a very vast and thick forest. If you don't know the terrain well, you could get lost!"

"Can you bend anything?" Aang asked.

"No; the royalty can't even bend our own element! It's that stupid!" I sighed, "Well, at least I can shapeshift."

_**

* * *

**_

It was a short day: Sokka found a few nuts that we could eat. _I_ stalked and killed a floppy-eared rabbit-mole (see _Book I~ Chapter 5: The King of Omashu_: it's the tiny thing that Aang chases when King Bumi asked him to find Flopsy), roasted it, and shared it with Team Avatar (that's what SOKKA SAYS); No one ate the nuts Sokka collected except Momo and Saala. Katara and Aang bought some hay for Appa, who devoured it happily.

At the end of the day, Aang yawned, "Well, night everyone," and lay down on Appa's tail.

"Night," Katara and Sokka both said in unison. They crawled into their sleeping bags. Sokka went to sleep with his machete and boomerang, but I personally think that's too paranoid.

I sighed happily, "See ya in the morn'" and lay in my pile of soft leaves I gathered and, as a tiger-dillo, curled up to try to fall asleep.

But a tiger-dillo has an outstanding sense of smell and hearing. There was a slight rustle in the bushes.

"Who's there!" I called, uncurling and unsheathing my claws.

Saala popped out of the bush. She was eating a lychee berry. "For the love of shit, Saala! I had half a heart attack!" She flew over to me and licked my animal face a few times, "But what I really wanna know is _how the hell Sokka never collected those berries_!

No. He definitely would have. It hit me that that bush was NOT a lychee bush; they grow on freaking _TREES_, dammit!

"Get out here, intruder!" I yelled at the bush.

It rustled.

A tiny leaf fell off.

Everything was quiet.

_Too quiet,_ I thought. I stalked towards it as a feral cat. Feral cats are really good at chases; they have a 98.56% chance of catching their prey.

Someone leapt from the bush with twin swords.

He had a blue spirit mask.

_He was the Blue Spirit!_

I pounced at him but he deflected me with his swords. And here's something that I never thought would happen: the Blue Spirit ran in the direction of _my_ spot of the camp and quickly was rummaging through _my messenger bag_!

_NO ONE_ TOUCHES _MY _STUFF!

I hissed and pounced at him again with freshly filed, unsheathed claws. I landed on his back on top of his swords. I was trying to bite his neck, but he grabbed me by the scruff and threw me HARD on the ground.

HARD.

I have a lot of valuable stuff in my messenger bag, but he took something small and lightweight enough to shove in his pocket.

I got up from the ground, bloody nose, weak, maybe something sprained. God, I was gonna kill this loser and get on with it!

But I scented something familiar. It was coming from the Blue Spirit.

I started thinking and growling at the same time. I twitched my head.

My ears flicked toward the direction of Saala. Where was she!

I saw that the bag that the Blue Spirit was carrying was _moving_. SACKS DON'T MOVE, PEOPLE!

Saala was inside it!

"Saala," I called, "I'm coming; don't worry!" The Blue Spirit ran with Saala in the bag. I sprinted as a feral cat. I was halfway through the woods when I was panting so hard I got a really good scent from him.

_HOLY FUCKING SHIT! PRINCE ZUKO IS THE BLUE SPIRIT!_

I was so tired from the chase, I lost where I was going and went _**splat**_ on a random tree.

I morphed back into human form. "I WILL find you, Zuko! I'm NEVER forgetting this!" I screamed at him as he ran farther and farther… And farther… Away from me with Saala.

Amazing; the slim 1.44% chance that a feral cat COULDN'T catch prey just happen now. Why right _now_?

I heard a _**thwip**_ come from the distance. Suddenly, one of Zuko's twin swords came at my face. I ducked in time for it to stick on the tree. There was a letter on the sword.

I took the letter and the sword back to camp with me. Since I ran into the tree headfirst, my eyes were still distorted a little.

I heard running footsteps coming toward me. I hissed ferociously but it was only the rest of the team.

"What happened?" Katara asked innocently.

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED! THE BLUE SPIRIT ESCAPED WITH SAALA AND SOMETHING ELSE THAT BELONGS TO ME!" I was so mad that I hadn't noticed that I was shouting at them. I looked down, ashamed, "Sorry, guys."

"What, now!" commented Sokka.

"Zuko stole Saala from me and left me this note. I was so tired from sprinting after him that I didn't have the strength to fly after him."

"I thought you said the Blue Spirit stole her," said Katara. Aang was quiet for some reason.

"Zuko _is_ the Blue Spirit."

Dun dun duh!

"Zuko!" she gasped.

"I know, huh? I was surprised, too!" I replied. I walked over to my pile of stuff to see what Zuko had stolen.

"We need to get Saala back." Aang finally spoke up.

"Yeah!... And whatever… Zuko… Stole… That Dare said." Sokka is such a disappointment.

"How will we go after him?" Katara is just full of questions.

I forgot what I was about to say because something that I _loved_ was missing.

My eyes widened with shock as I couldn't find my prize possession, my pride and joy.

_My medallion!_


	5. The Meeting

"Dammit! That fucking bastard!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The rest of the team looked at me; they were sympathetic and surprised at the same time because I said that.

"Didn't you say there was a letter?" asked Sokka.

"There is; I found it," Aang said.

"Wait, Dare, did Zuko give you that scar?"

I narrowed my eyes in surprise. No one noticed my childhood scar until now? "No, I got it when I was really young. I can still feel the pain… My best friend accidentally Firebended my left arm one day when we were trying to see who was stronger. She got carried away. I was in the infirmary for weeks."

I was too tired from running after Zuko that I couldn't read that letter. "Can someone read it for me?"

"I got it…" answered Katara.

She read it aloud:

_My dearest Animalbending freak,_

_I hope you have gotten this letter. I, the Blue Spirit, now know of your existence. Your kind is a rarity and I shall set out to tell the world about you and your family._

_Before you kill me first…_

_As an addition, I have stolen your lemur and your prized medallion. They should fetch a fair price at a usual curio shop._

_My main goal now is to find out more about shapeshifters like you._

_If you ever wish to see your possessions again, meet me at the West point of this forest at sunset tonight. I expect to see you there._

_~The Blue Spirit~_

_There is no ransom. I just want you._

"How… heartless-" she said.

"If that asshole tells anybody about my kind, my kingdom is gonna collapse! The world barely even knows ANYTHING about shapeshifters!" I started crying.

Momo licked my forehead. Appa sat next to me. I heard Momo say something that I could have expected.

"You wanna help me get Saala back?"

He nodded. "But you may not come back."

He didn't care. He looked at me determined.

"Momo wants to go?" asked Sokka.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?" I said, "It's what he wants for Saala."

"Momo," said Aang suddenly, "you can go; Dare," he turned to me, "take care of Momo for me, OK?"

I nodded. "Of course, Avatar."

I packed my stuff in my bag, and took off with Momo.

_**

* * *

**_

I was in midair with Momo as a Phoenix. My heart ached for my Saala back. The necklace is sacred to me, but I'd choose Saala over that.

We were going to the West point of the forest, where Zuko told us to meet him.

Bastard asshole.

I would die for Saala.

"Momo; over there!" I gestured that he landed on that branch, out of anybody's sight. "I'll land in that clearing; if _anything_ happens to me, I'll scream so high-pitched, you'll be the only one to hear me. If you do, go back to the team and guide them to me."

He nodded. Blood may spill, bones may shatter, hearts may break, but he was in it with me.

This was everything to him.

_Saala_ was everything to him.

We forked away and landed away from each other.

I changed back into human form and stood in the middle of the clearing.

"Come out, Zuko! I know you're the Blue Spirit! Get out here!"

I waited for what seemed like forever. It was foggy, yet, since I was an animal hybrid, I could see just fine.

That's why it was a giant surprise when two lengths of chains shot at me from front. They wrapped around me. It was so tight, I couldn't change into something big and destroy it. It was so well put together, I couldn't change into something tiny and squeeze through it.

It was the perfect chain for my powers.

"Gotcha, bitch." Zuko came out of the fog and tied the chains behind my back.

I'm known to keep an astonishing cool under the most crushing pressure. "So… Let's cut to the damn chase: what do ya want from me, asshole?"

"Isn't it obvious? I just want you."

"Why?" I sighed in menacing boredom.

I guess he didn't feel like answering me. He hit my scalp and knocked me half unconscious. I was drifting…

My scalp was bleeding, my ears were ringing. I could feel the night beginning. If only I knew the reason why.

I felt Zuko's anger cooling. I've _never_ sensed him do that in front of me.

He sighed in sympathy. "I give up. I'm not gonna hide this."

He better say it now!

"I love you,"

I fell into unconsciousness, surprised and in need of more answers.


	6. Captured

Before I was unconscious, I swear I could see through Zuko's eyes like wide open doors.

But if he did even kind of love me, then he wouldn't have done this. I actually thought he was going to kill me.

I hated him.

I finally opened my eyes; I was in a strange room, it gave me the idea that it was a bedroom. There was a mattress in the corner and the whole thing was covered with Fire Nation insignia and weapons.

I was in Zuko's quarters.

I also knew it was _Zuko's_ because he was arranging his Blue Spirit twin swords on the wall.

I must have twitched too loudly: "You're awake," he said.

I was really gonna go homicidal on his ass. "_What_ do you want from me? Where's my lemur? Medallion?"

"The medallion you're wearing; the lemur was set free with the Avatar's lemur. We found _him_. In fact he's probably still out there."

"OK, what do you want with _me_?"

"I just want to talk," he said as he turned back to face me.

"That's what they _all_ say before the other gets raped,"

He looked taken aback by that, "I am NOT like that,"

"Then why am I sitting here in the corner of your room?" I screamed at him.

"I'm just telling you, I'm sorry,"

"Whatever, bitch." Ha, I can't believe I thought of that so quickly!

This time he looked at me like I'm an idiot.

I stuck my middle finger at him. I don't go down without a fight.

"Just trust me," Zuko urged.

"How can I trust you when you were the one who stole what belonged to me?" I screeched.

"Fine," he gave up.

He grabbed a knife from the stand next to him. Major sweat-drop moment for me.

He took the knife and held it up to my throat.


End file.
